News Headline: “Democrats shelve assault weapons ban.”
QT Abridged Too Far Dictionary of the English Language:shelve verb 1. to not take action on something until a later time. 2. if ever. 3. to shy away from. 4. to hide out from. 5. to show complete lack of spine concerning. 6. but hardly unexpected [see: streak, yellow; knees, weak; bananas, could carve better public servants out of. ]
6 comments:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/01/robert-farago/open-letter-on-assault-weapons-from-boston-medical-center-trauma-and-emergency-services/
http://factcheck.org/2013/03/rangels-assault-weapons-whopper/
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/jerrylee/research/aw_final2004.pdf
quote..the study includes a chart that shows, for example, that only 2 percent of all the guns recovered by Baltimore police in 1992 and 1993 were assault weapons.
Koper said he’s unaware of any systematic data and analysis since then on the use of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in crimes nationwide.
We have no intention of minimizing the impact of gun violence on America’s youth. Having said that, though, Rangel adds little to the overheated debate on gun control by grossly inflating the number of children who are killed and injured by assault weapons.
end quote.
Of course to MY mind, and yours too Bill, I think that even 2% is too high. But, as we all know, the devil is in the details, and there are lies, damned lies and statistics.
I have read some interesting "conspiracy" theories that the entire debate was created out of the whole cloth in order to bolster sagging assault weapon sales. NOT because there was much of a problem with firearms in general and assault weapons in particular.
The UK's "Guardian" magazine seems to think this...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/18/gun-sales-surge-newtown-crackdown
as does MSN's web site...
http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=e88190f6-631b-4e48-98d9-260285817a62
We were talking today over a cup of coffee after the show, and one of my friends noted that "if the definition of a terrorist is somebody whose actions cause you to live in fear (terror), then is CNN a terrorist organization? I laughed. At first. Then I recalled Michael Moore's movie "Bowling for Columbine" in which he described the US "zeitgeist" as being always in fear. (actually, he didn't use the word zeitgeist...grin!) Terror is a normal state of affairs! I think it is a cumulative thing.
What troubled me MOST about that movie is that there is really NO difference between Canada and the US except for our media. Mike suggested that the Canadian media is not out to scare people all the time, and the US media is. This could change overnight!
The first link above is telling...it is a petition signed by people on the front line, the ones who actually DEAL with the death and destruction. To them, statistics are VERY real.
The second link is biased as hell, but they seem to have some data to back up their contention.
To put it into perspective, in Canada, excluding suicides, the vast majority of people injured and killed by firearms are injured and killed by police. I wonder if that would be true in the US?
Oh, and of course, pretty much ALL assault rifles are simply banned in Canada.
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-98-462/FullText.html
Didn't seem to do us any harm...
Did I think this was a good thing? Well, I certainly did not think so when they came to pick up my suddenly illegal firearm! But that was because they would not pay its value...it was a simple theft by government. At the time, I was IN the military, and was, in fact ISSUED with an assault rifle. Which just made the whole exercise surreal.
This exercise caused me to study the philosophy of gun ownership, everything from "the weapon shops of Isher" to "The Rights of Man". I now reluctantly come to the agreement that it was a good thing to get that weapon "off the street", because the proof of the pudding is in the eating....the homocide rate here in Canada is down dramatically since they took all the assault weapons from the hands of the general public. However, I am very aware that they have, by doing do, created the potential for a police state.
Like that would be a bad thing....he says, throwing the cat in amongst the pigeons....grin!
I just can't help but remember the saying by a very famous Englishman...He who would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will lose both and deserve neither." I think that guy went on to a career opposing the duly elected government of the day with armed rebellion.
I was going to ask how many of the deaths were from use of high-capacity weaponry, but that makes me admit that there is some number that's okay - and not just that kind of weaponry, but any kind.
I trust the police, but not as much as I used to. It started to drop when they tasered helpless people (no matter if they were vile or not), when they acquired actual military weaponry for use in 'police' functions, when they pushed the idea of automated systems for facial recognition. I think we are a long way from being a police state, but not nearly as far as we used to be.
Well, I would sure hate to think that the methods used to market the latest useless flatulence medicine were used to polarize the American public.
But....
The sales of assault rifles spiked in the last two months. Doubled since 2008. That had to have been planned...
http://www.policymic.com/articles/19701/gun-sales-at-record-high-sales-soar-over-fear-of-the-black-president
Oh yeah. It doesn't take much to set the gun freaks off. And they really don't care about how many die, so long as they have the cold steel in their sweaty hands.
BTW, I loved The Weapons Shops of Isher. If I read it for the first time now, possibly the politics would be a bit abrasive, but at the time, and in memory, I loved it.
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